Exercise training apparatus

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to an exercise training apparatus and more specifically to a martial arts/boxing training apparatus which overcomes the problems associated with existing devices in that it provides the user with the ability to hone in on skills such as speed, power, accuracy and blocking, and also simulate the unpredictable nature of a real-life sparring partner The apparatus includes a base plate for mounting the apparatus to a surface, a support member, and one or more padded balls that are adapted to move about the support member through connecting arms whose height is adjustable. In one form of the invention, the arms are rigid structures which rotate in a horizontal plane about the support member whereby the length of each arm is adjustable. This embodiment is especially useful when a user wishes to hone in on a particular skill which does not require the element of surprise. In a further form of the invention, the support member includes a flexible arm mounted thereto which is not only capable of rotational movement in a single plane, but is also capable of tiltable and pivotable motion relative to the support member which adds a further dimension to the training apparatus. This embodiment is especially useful when the unpredictable nature of a real-life sparring partner is required.

The present invention relates to an exercise training apparatus and inparticular, to an apparatus for use in the development of skills such asspeed, accuracy and blocking in various full-contact sports such asboxing and martial arts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Boxing, martial arts and other full-contact sports are possibly the mostgruelling of any other physical exercise in that they require thesportsman participating to be at peak physical fitness. For example, inthe sport of boxing, speed is required so that a fighter can punch anopponent or dodge an opponent's punch as swiftly as possible; power isrequired so that maximum force can be used when punching; accuracy isrequired so that when a punch is thrown the boxer has a greater chanceof hitting a target; and obviously the skill of blocking is required toavoid being hit in areas such as the face and abdomen.

All of the abovementioned skills require dedicated training and hardwork on behalf of the sportsman. These skills have been acquired moreeasily in recent years through use of training devices. Devices thatincorporate contact between a user (usually the fist, foot, knee orelbow) and the striking surface of the device itself have not onlyremoved the need for a physical sparring partner but have also providedthe user with a means to hone in on the skill which requires particularattention. Equipment commonplace in most gyms today includes suspendedboxing bags, freestanding upright bags, suspended boxing balls (commonlyknown as speed balls), and double-ended punching balls.

Boxing bags are heavy, padded, and cylindrically shaped bags suspendedfrom the ceiling. Upon being punched, the bag generally sways slightlydue to its weight and provides the user with little element of surpriseon its return stroke. It is for this reason that heavy suspended boxingbags are generally used to help the user in increasing their power or tosimply practice the style of their punch.

Freestanding upright bags, like suspended bags, are heavy, padded andcylindrically shaped. However, instead of being suspended from theceiling they are springedly mounted to the ground. A freestandingupright bag serves virtually the same purpose as a suspended bag and useof the bag does little to develop skills in the boxer.

A suspended boxing ball or ‘speed ball’ is a tear-drop shaped, paddedbag suspended underneath a flat platform at around head-height. The bagis allowed pivotal motion in any direction beneath the platform. Forexample, when the bag is punched it swings upwards, hits the platformand rebounds back to either receive the user's next punch or hit thefront side of the platform and then receive a punch depending on theroutine of the user. The user then generally performs a rapid repetitionof this motion, thereby practicing both speed and accuracy. There is nomovement of the suspended location of the ball and therefore, onceagain, there is no element of surprise as to where the ball will returnonce hit.

Double-ended punching balls are generally spherical padded balls whichare elastically tethered at their top and bottom poles to a top platformand a bottom platform respectively. When the ball is punched, themovement more closely resembles the unpredictable nature of a returningpunch from an opponent in that the ball is now allowed to move in avertical plane, that is to the left and right of the user as well asbackwards and forwards. This device allows the user to improve skillssuch as speed and accuracy and also defensive skills such as blocking.

There are currently no devices known to the applicant allowing the userto simultaneously improve on skills such as speed, accuracy and blockingwhereby a target, typically balls are positioned and configured so that,when struck, a simulation of both the high and low targets and the highand low counter punches of a real-life sparring partner occurs.

There are further no current devices known to the applicant which enablethree-dimensional movement of the ball once struck, that is rotational,tiltable and pivotable motion, thereby providing the user with theunpredictable nature of a real life opponent.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome at leastsome of the aforementioned problems or to provide the public with auseful alternative.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore in one form of the invention there is proposed an exercisetraining apparatus including:

-   a base member adapted to be attached to a surface;-   a support member extending from said base member;-   at least one arm rotatably attached to said support member; and-   a ball attached to a free end of the arm.

Preferably said arm is further tiltably attached to said support member.

Preferably said arm is further pivotably attached to said supportmember.

Advantageously said arm is rotatably and/or tiltably and/or pivotablyattached to said support member.

Preferably said arm is constructed of a resilient material.

Preferably said arm is of an elasticity which allows for tension andcompression of said resilient arm.

In preference said arm includes a first arm member and a second armmember, said first arm member adapted to slidably engage said second armmember.

Preferably said arm includes an arm locking means adapted to lock saidfirst arm member and said second arm member relatively. This allows theuser to set each arm of the apparatus at their desired level so thatdiffering reaches of an opponent may be simulated.

Preferably said ball is mounted to a free end of said second arm member.

Preferably said support member includes a first member and a secondmember said first member fixedly attached to said base and adapted toslidably engage said second member.

In preference said support member includes a locking means adapted tolock the second member within the first member. This gives the user theoption of height adjustment.

Advantageously said ball is made up of a soft, padded material. Thisensures that the ball will not harm the user.

In a further form of the invention there is proposed an exercisetraining apparatus including:

-   a base plate adapted to be mounted to a surface;-   a hollow, cylindrical support member extending outwards from said    base plate;-   a shaft that is slidable within said support member and lockable    there along;-   at least one practice component rotatably mounted at a predetermined    height along said shaft said practice component including a first    arm and a second arm, said first arm adapted to slidably engage said    second arm; and-   a ball attached to a free end of said second arm.

Preferably said practice component is further pivotably mounted alongsaid shaft.

Preferably said practice component is further tiltably mounted alongsaid shaft.

Advantageously said practice component is rotatably and/or pivotablyand/or tiltably mounted along said shaft.

In preference said practice component includes a circular bearing whichis journaled around an outer surface of said shaft and provides forsmooth movement of said component.

In a still further form of the invention there is proposed an exercisetraining apparatus including:

-   a base plate adapted to be mounted to a surface;-   a hollow, cylindrical support member extending outwards from said    base plate;-   a shaft that is slidable within said support member and lockable    there along;-   at least one resilient arm rotatably, pivotably and tiltably mounted    at a predetermined height along said shaft providing for chaotic    three dimensional movement of said arm with respect to said shaft;    and-   a ball attached to a free end of said resilient arm.

Preferably said resilient arm includes a circular bearing-which isjournaled around an outer surface of said shaft and provides for smoothmovement of said arm.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several implementations of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theadvantages and principles of the invention. In the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an exercise trainingapparatus in accordance with the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an exercise trainingapparatus according to a second embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description of the invention refers to theaccompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplaryembodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made tothe embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will beused throughout the drawings and the following description to refer tothe same and like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates the training apparatus 10 in accordance with thepresent invention. A base plate 12 is fixedly mounted to a flat surface14 using bolts 16, 18, 20 and 22 located at the four corners of theplate 12. Extending upwardly from the plate 12 is a cylindrical supportmember 24 which is preferably welded to the base plate 12 at a lower endthereof and includes reinforcing elements 26 for added stability. Thesupport member 24 includes an inwardly chamfered upper end 28 definingan opening 30 into which a cylindrical shaft 32 is adapted to beinserted when assembling the training apparatus 10. The cylindricalshaft 32 is adapted to be locked within support member 22 by using anyadequate locking means, such as a screw-type vice (not shown) which iswell known in the art. Alternatively, the shaft 32 may include a malethreaded section (not shown) adapted to engage a female threaded section(not shown) within the support member 22.

It is to be understood that the methods of connection as describedherein are by way of example only, and the present invention is notintended to be limited to any one of these methods. For example, bolts16, 18, 20 and 22 may well be replaced by a suction means on theunderside of base plate 11 or other suitable fixing means.

It should be further understood that base plate 12 need not be fixed tothe ground and may just as well be fixed to a wall or platform (notshown). This would provide the user of the apparatus 10 with furtheroptions as to the type of training they wish to undertaken. For example,when mounted to the wall, instead of the apparatus 10 as shown in FIG. 1functioning in a horizontal plane, it would function in a verticalplane. Another option would be to attach the apparatus 10 to theceiling. In fact, the apparatus could be fixed to any surface thatcorresponds with the training requirements of the user.

Since boxing and martial arts exercises involve the powerful striking ofthe apparatus whether it be a punch, kick, elbow or knee, the base plate12 is preferably made of strong, heavy metal such as steel so as tolower the centre of gravity of the apparatus 10. However, the inventionshould not be limited to only this configuration. For example, a widehollow base (not shown) could be used whereby an internal chamber isfilled with water or sand to thereby stabilise the apparatus. This mayeven provide a further favourable unpredictability to the user in thatthe entire apparatus may be designed to sway.

A lower punching component 34 and an upper punching component 36 arerotatably connected to shaft 32 such that shaft 32 extends throughcentral apertures 38 and 40 of each component 34 and 36 respectively.Although not shown, the apparatus 10 includes stopping means for lockingeach component 34 and 36 at a particular height along the shaft 32whilst allowing each component to rotate freely at that particularheight.

The lower component 34 includes a circular housing 42 enclosing anannular roller bearing (not shown) or the like, which defines aperture38 allowing the component 34 to freely rotate about the central shaft32. Two identical arms 44 and 46 are connected, preferably by means of aweld, to the housing 42 and extend outwardly at opposite ends thereof.Arm 44 includes two members 44 a and 44 b of stepped downcross-sectional size such that member 44 b is slidable within member 44a. This configuration allows the user to adjust the reach of theapparatus.

Bolt 44 c locks the members 44 a and 44 b in relative position to eachother. As mentioned, arm 46 is identical in its configuration to arm 44,i.e. member 46 b slides within arm 46 a with bolt 46 c once againlocking the arms in relative position to each other. Spherical balls 48and 50 are fixedly attached to the ends of arms 44 and 46 respectivelythrough corresponding annular support members 52 and 54 respectively.The balls 48 and 50 effectively act as the target surface when punchingis being practised and as a return punch when blocking is beingpractised.

The upper component 36 comprises substantially identical features to thelower component 34 however, as is illustrated in FIG. 1, the uppercomponent 36 includes three identical arms 56, 58 and 60 disposedequally around a central circular housing 62. Those skilled in the artshould recognise that each component may include any number of armsdisposed about their central housings. Furthermore, rather than shaft 32being fixed within the support member 24 and having rotating elementsmounted thereto, the support member 24 itself may include the requiredcomponents for rotation such that the whole of shaft 32 is rotatablewithin the support member 24.

Once again, housing 62 encloses a circular bearing (not shown) definingaperture 40 allowing the housing 62 to rotate freely about the centralshaft 32. Each of the arms 56, 58 and 60 include the same slidableconfiguration as explained above and have therefore been numberedaccordingly but not described here for the purpose of succinctness. Arms56, 58 and 60 also include respective spherical balls 64, 66 and 68fixedly attached to their ends by means of annular supports 70, 72 and74 respectively.

It should now be apparent to those skilled in the art that the presentinvention can simulate the actions of a real-life sparring partnerwhereby when a ball is punched, the component 34 or 36 to which the ballis attached effectively rotates about the central shaft 32. If the userwishes to practice a blocking technique, he/she can block the oncomingstream of other balls which follow in the path of rotation. If the userwishes to practice a punching technique, he/she can continue to punchthe return balls thereby testing both speed and accuracy. The apparatus10 is especially effective because it includes two components, one 34 atwaist height and the other 36 at head height which are the two areasmost likely to be targets in the sport of boxing.

It is to be understood that the heights of shaft 32, lower punchingcomponent 34 and upper punching component 36 are adjustable to suit theheight of the user. This is also of benefit when storing the apparatus10 away after use in that when all three of the abovementioned membersare at their lowest positions, the height of the entire apparatus isalmost halved. Furthermore, the components 34 and 36 can also bedismantled from the central shaft 32.

A further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2.As can be seen, the base plate 12 and supporting member 24 are identicalto that shown in FIG. 1 and it is for this reason that the numbersreferencing these components appear identical.

FIG. 2 illustrates a training apparatus 60. A central cylindrical shaft76 is housed within support member 22 as in the first embodiment howevershaft 76 now terminates into a spherical bulb 78 at its upper end. Anannular housing 80 which encloses a circular bearing (not shown) isadapted to not only revolve around bulb 78 in a vertical plane (yaw) butis now also capable of tilt or roll around the outer surface of thespherical bulb 78 thereby enabling multi-axial movement.

Attached to housing 80 is an elastic tether 82 which pivots verticallyabout a horizontally extending clip 84. The elastic tether 82 isattached to a spherical ball 86 preferably by a simple looped connection88 such that the ball 86 is capable of slight movement about the loopconnection 88 when struck, as those skilled in the art would realise.

FIG. 2 further illustrates the various forms of motion 90, 92, 94, 96and 98 of the ball 86, tether 82 and housing 80 using dashed lines whichindicate the position of the ball 86, tether 82 and housing 80 at twoalternate positions 100 and 102 along its paths This movement occurs dueto the combination of simple rotation 90 of the housing 80, tilt or roll92 of the housing 80, pivot 94 of the tether 82 about clip 84,elongation 96 of the tether 82, and slight movement 98 of the ball 86allowing for a three-dimensional almost unpredictable or chaotic motionof the ball, features of which are common to those of a human opponent.

It should also be made aware that features of one embodiment may well becombined with features of another. For example, a user may wellconstruct a training apparatus having a three-dimensional punchingcomponent (as in FIG. 2) attached at the top of the apparatus, andsimply a horizontally rotating component (as in FIG. 1) attached atwaist height.

The various forms of motion described in the present invention, and moreparticularly the motion of the arms about the shaft, may be achievedusing a wide variety of different joining components. For example,rotation of the arms may be achieved by using a simple ball bearing,needle bearing or bush arrangement as well as the roller bearingarrangement as described. Pivot may be achieved using any swivel jointarrangement while tilt or roll of the arms may be achieved by using anyform of rotary joint such as ball and socket joints, universal joints,or even CV joints and washers. It is to be understood that the presentinvention is not intended to be limited to any one of these componentsbut rather the type of motion performed by such components.

Those skilled in the art should now realise how the present inventionwill aid a boxer, martial artist or any other form of fighter insharpening his/her skills in regard to speed, accuracy and blockingtechniques in that the apparatus effectively simulates a human sparringpartner. The boxing balls located on the apparatus can either becontinuously punched to test speed and accuracy, be blocked so as tosimulate a counter-punch or both so that all skills can be tested.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the presentinvention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention hasbeen shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practicaland preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be madetherefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not tobe limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded thefull scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devicesand apparatus.

In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, exceptwhere the context requires otherwise due to express language ornecessary implication, the word “comprising” is used in the sense of“including”, i.e. the features specified may be associated with furtherfeatures in various embodiments of the invention.

1. An exercise training apparatus including: a base member adapted to beattached to a surface; a support member extending from said base member;at least one arm rotatably attached to said support member; and a ballattached to a free end of the arm.
 2. An exercise training apparatus asin claim 1 wherein said arm is further tiltably attached to said supportmember.
 3. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said armis further pivotably attached to said support member.
 4. An exercisetraining apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said arm is mounted in a mannerselected from the group consisting of rotatably, tiltably, and pivotablyattached to said support member.
 5. An exercise training apparatus as inclaim 1 wherein said arm is constructed of a resilient material.
 6. Anexercise training apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said arm is of anelasticity which allows for tension and compression of said tetheredarm.
 7. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said armincludes a first arm member and a second arm member, said first armmember adapted to slidably engage said second arm member.
 8. An exercisetraining apparatus as in claim 7 wherein said arm includes an armlocking means adapted to lock said first arm member and said second armmember relatively.
 9. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 8wherein said ball is mounted to a free end of said second arm member.10. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said supportmember includes a first member and a second member said first memberbeing fixedly attached to said base and adapted to slidably engage saidsecond member.
 11. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 10 whereinsaid support member includes a locking means adapted to lock the secondmember within the first member.
 12. An exercise training apparatus as inclaim 1 wherein said ball is made up of a soft, padded material.
 13. Anexercise training apparatus including: a base plate adapted to bemounted to a surface; a hollow, cylindrical support member extendingoutwards from said base plate; a shaft that is slidable within saidsupport member and lockable there along; at least one practice componentrotatably mounted at a predetermined height along said shaft; saidpractice component including a first arm and a second arm, said firstarm adapted to slidably engage said second arm; and a ball attached to afree end of said second arn.
 14. An exercise training apparatus as inclaim 13 wherein said practice component is further pivotably mountedalong said shaft.
 15. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 13wherein said practice component is further tiltably mounted along saidshaft.
 16. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 13 wherein saidpractice component is mounted in a manner selected from the groupconsisting of rotatably, pivotably and tiltably mounted along saidshaft.
 17. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 13 wherein saidpractice component includes a circular bearing which is journaled aroundan outer surface of said shaft and provides for smooth movement of saidcomponent.
 18. An exercise training apparatus including: a base plateadapted to be mounted to a surface; a hollow, cylindrical support memberextending outwards from said base plate; a shaft that is slidable withinsaid support member and lockable there along; at least one resilient armrotatably, pivotably and tiltably mounted at a predetermined heightalong said shaft providing for chaotic three dimensional movement ofsaid arm with respect to said shaft; and a ball attached to a free endof said resilient arm.
 19. An exercise training apparatus as in claim 18wherein said resilient arm includes a circular bearing which isjournaled around an outer surface of said shaft and provides for smoothmovement of said arm.